When viewing long-form video content, for a variety of reasons a viewer may wish to temporarily watch other content. Systems exist which allow the user to time-shift a program by recording it for later viewing, allowing them to quickly skip any undesirable content when viewing. However, a user may not wish to watch a program on a time delay.
When watching non-time-shifted content, commonly a viewer may manually switch between content sources when undesirable content is presented. The user may switch back to the original content often, to see if the undesirable portion of the program has ended. Such channel surfing is fairly common among sports fans, who may be interested in multiple live games during any one time slot.
There is a need in the art for a system which can predict times during a program when a viewer may wish to be provided with alternate content, provide such content based on predicted or input user preferences, and return automatically to the original content when appropriate.